North Palm Beach to St. Augustine

Saturday, March 24 

North Palm Beach Marina Office

After we docked at North Palm Beach we called in to Customs and Immigration to clear in.  Customs went fine but we were told we needed to go to the airport to clear Immigration.  We rented a car and went out there...took all of 30 seconds to clear and didn't even get a stamp on our passports.  There is an easier way to do this and next time we will do it that way...you pre-clear before you leave and then when you get back to the States all you have to do is call in.

Since we were out in the car we did some shopping...we even found a CostCo and bought cheap beer and meat!!!  CostCo is a startling contrast to the little ma &pa groceries in the Bahamas.  We were like kids in a candy store, overstimulated and wide-eyed.

When we got back to the Belle, Dan was waiting for us.  So good to see him again!!!

Dan... nice shades

We had a feast of Mahi Mahi and it was delicious.

The successful angler presents his catch

We watched this wicked weather system over the ocean and were very glad we had made our crossing when we did.  Our Captain made the right call and, even though it was a long haul, we were always safe.  Thanks to Captain Kerm. 
As Linda and I watched the weather from the fly bridge, we both saw a huge meteorite blaze across the sky.  It was the biggest one either of us have ever seen and we were very excited.  I took it as an omen, closing off our Bahamas adventure and welcoming us back home.

Lots of lightning in there

On Sunday we were lazing around when a gentleman came by and introduced himself...Bob Smith.  Kerm was delighted to learn he was  'THE'  Bob Smith from American Diesel who knows everything there is to know about the Ford Lehman 120 HP engine in our boat.  Bob spent at least an hour with Kerm looking at the engine, listening to it run and offering expert advice.  It was so wonderful for our captain to get confirmation that he was going so much right and hints on how to make things even better. Thanks, Mr. Smith, for stopping by.


Monday, March 26

We left North Palm Beach Marina at 7:04 am aiming north.  We had been agonizing over that to do with the boat this summer and we made a default decision when we passed by the St. Lucie Inlet.  That leads to the Okeechobee Waterway...so we are not heading to the West Coast. 
Our decision making process probably leaves some people scratching their heads but it works for us.  We end up doing fun stuff that that's the point of all this silliness after all.  Isn't it?

Where dreams come true

This is the mecca of boatbuilding. When we win the lottery Kerm will come here to commission his Rybovich sportfishing boat.  I already have a name for it...the 'Kermovich'.

At 4:00 pm, after traveling 54.4 nautical miles and clearing 10 bridges, we stopped at Vero Beach Municipal Marina's mooring field for the night.

By the way, mooring ball fields organized by the municipalities are awesome.  You grab a mooring ball, pay a very modest fee and you get a safe, secure, restful night's sleep.  No anchor anguish, no docking drama.  And to those boats that anchor just off the mooring field to avoid the fee...get a clue and develop some class.  If we don't support these mooring fields they will go away.  Okay, I don't usually pontificate.  I'll get off my soap box now.
Good night.


Tuesday, March 27

Departed Vero Beach Mooring Field at 6:55am.  Happy to be on the ICW and welcomed by dolphins and jelly fish. Good day on the Belle, cleared 8 bridges and traveled 64.3 nautical miles before grabbing a mooring ball at Titusville Municipal Marina at 4:25pm.

One of the many bridges we cleared

Wednesday, March 28

Departed Titusville at 6:48 am. 
At 8:04 am we were at the Haulover Canal Bridge, also known as the Allenhurst bridge.  This area is full of manatees and dolphins.  It was very cool to see such a concentration.  I read in one of the guidebooks that if you anchor off the channel here you are liable to be woken up by the thumping of manatees on the hull of your boat.




At about 1:00pm we passed by Daytona Beach.

We were going to stop early in the day and go to St. Augustine the next day but we were making such good time that we decided to push on.  It made for a long day but we arrived at St. Augustine Municipal Marina at 7:13 pm, grabbing a mooring ball in time to watch the sun go down. We cleared 15 bridges and traveled 87.7 nautical miles today.

Sight seeing in St. Augustine tomorrow.


Thursday, March 29

Linda and I went into town to look around...

Breakfast al fresco

The oldest street in the oldest city in the country

Linda and her buddy, both showing pretty teeth

Linda posing with Flagler in front of his college

Look at that Tattoo

I got one, too

Our stop in St. Augustine was well worth the time.  Beautiful city.

christie

Nassau again and crossing the Gulf Stream to the USA

Saturday, March 17


We left the dock at Highborne at 8:20am heading for Nassau.  The seas were a little upset and so was my tummy.  But we made it to Nassau by 2:05pm and docked at the Harbor Club Marina again. The trip was 36.5 nautical miles. We are going to stay in Nassau waiting for good weather for a crossing to the US and to do a little sight seeing.

We ended up staying almost a week and here is a short list of what we did.

• Visited downtown and saw lots and lots of very white people,straight off the cruise ships.
• Took a ride on the public that will always be remembered for its reckless speed, ear-splitting music and the happy Bahamian folks...they all greeted each other when boarding the bus. It was great.
• Visited the Straw Market were are lots of booths with local people selling their wares.
• Visited Atlantis, which is a huge entertainment complex on Paradise Island across Nassau Harbor.
• Gawked at the mega Yachts  
• Walked to Potters Cay, which is an area of little, local restaurant booths offering conch and fresh fish
• Enjoyed Lobster that Linda negotiated for from a local fishing boat.
  

Hooray for Linda, negotiator extraordinaire!!

I twisted the heads off the 'bugs' and we served them up boiled with drawn butter.  SOOOOO GOOD!

Unfortunately, I had a fall on the boat and was flat on my back for a couple of days.  Back spasms really hurt. Linda and Kerm took good care of me and before too long I was on my feet again.  Happily, my recovery coincided with a weather window that looked good for a passage all the way from Nassau to Lake Worth. FL.

We departed Nassau Harbor Club Marina at 7:00am on Friday, March 23.  We were glad to be on our way and also sad to have to say good bye to the Bahamas.

Seaquest, one of the many mega yachts in Nassau Harbor

View of Atlantis

Sunrise on Nassau Harbor

Cruise Ship

Nassau Harbor Light

Captain refusing to smile for the camera, that's okay it's early.

The seas were about 4-6 for a while and then they picked up a little bit more.  Linda and I figured we saw some 10 footers.  They were coming at us off the starboard rear quarter so we were bouncing around a little bit.  It wasn't scary, it was exhilarating. 

At 9:00am we entered the Tongue of the Ocean (very deep).  Linda got a reading of 1098 feet on the depth meter.  We deployed the fishing rod, using a lure called the Dolphin Delite made by a company called No Alibi.   At 11:00am WE CAUGHT A MAHI MAHI!!!  Here is the photographic evidence.

Happy Captain

We were all super excited and glad to get the fish into the boat safely with the way the seas were rocking.  We dispatched the fish and put it in the cooler.  After the seas calmed down a little later in the day, I used the lesson on cleaning and filleting dolphin (mahi mahi) that we got from the captain on Magic.  I cleaned it right there on the back deck, with Linda assisting.  What a wonderful way to close our trip to the Bahamas, catching such a beautiful and delicious fish.


At 7:27...

We all saw the green flash tonight. Our final count was Chris at 5, Linda at 4 and Kerm at 3.  Good bye, Bahamas

We took turns driving, watching for ships and sleeping during the night. When we reached the Gulf Stream Current we picked up speed and I caught us going 11.5 knots at one point.  Not bad for a boat whose hull speed is 7 knots!

We reached the Lake worth Inlet at 7am so our crossing took 24 hours.  The Inlet is supposed to be quite calm but we experienced lots of waves and disturbed water.  It was Saturday morning and lots of big sportfishing boats were blasting out to sea.  They seemed intent on swamping any boat in their way...we were not impressed with the courtesy of Florida boaters on our return to the US.

Industrial part of Lake Worth, past all the crazy waves, etc.

We pulled in to the North Palm Beach Marina at 8:50am and were glad to be safely docked at slip 34.  The crossing was a good one, although tiring.  Total nautical miles traveled was 195.7 and that registers as our longest crossing to date.



Christie

Hignborne Cay

Wednesday, March 14

We left Emerald Rock at 7:35am and headed north to Norman's Cay.  We arrived at 11:00 am and dropped our anchor.  All of us liked Norman's so much that we wanted to take another look.  Also, we were told there was some "primo" sand dollar hunting beaches on the other side of the Cay.  Linda and I jumped in to the dinghy and aimed for the beach.  We didn't take any pictures of this expedition because I think we were too focused.  But we were very successful.  I found a beautiful chunk of coral on the beach and together we collected at least a dozen sand dollars.  This area looked like the the stereotypical sand beach and crystal turquoise waters that  people speak of.  It is amazing and I will never get over the colors of the sea here in the Bahamas.  It is truly breath-taking.



Thursday, March 15

Left Norman's Cay at 7:48am and headed north to Highborne Cay.  We Docked at the Highborne Cay Marina at 10:17am, traveling 12.6 nautical miles.

We were anxious to get an update on Kerm's Dad who had some medical problems so we thought that a marina with decent wifi would be a good idea.  We were happy when we pulled in as this is a beautiful spot and the facility is very clean and spiffy.  Lots of megayachts were our first clue!!

A Corona moment

The office and ship's store

Lots of birds at this stop. 

I especially liked this guy, called a bananaquit.  He was anxious to welcome us to his island.

Bananaquit

At the fish cleaning dock there were lots of sharks waiting for a hand-out...

The captain of the Mega Yacht, Magic was cleaning lots of Mahi Mahi that were caught by the owner and his guests that morning.   The chef was also there, looking over the catch.  I asked captain to show me the technique so that when I catch my own I will know what to do.  He was so nice and I got a real lesson.  Then he gave Linda the carcass to toss to the sharks and the Jacks.   

Food Fight!!

Leaf Cay and Allen's Cay are close to Highborne and they are protected areas for Iguanas.  Linda and I wanted to take a look at them so we started up Tinkerbelle and blasted over the reefs and waves to get over there.  We were surprised at how big they were.  Like a dachshund.  Watch out, Jack!!

They were quite aggressive and came right up to us.  Then a tourist boat pulled up and started to feed them grapes so I guess they now associate people with fruit and expected some from us.  I told a little girl from the tour boat to throw a grape to the animal coming towards me.  I wasn't sure he's understand no grapes from Christie. .

hiuhijoij

Give me a grape and I won't bite you!!

 After our reptile adventure we got back to the Belle and were delighted when the Chef from Magic came over to our boat.  He introduced himself as Chef Raffie and he brought a bag full of delicious things for us...big mahi mahi fillets, his own signature Caesar salad dressing, special spice mix and blueberry cheesecake.  We have found the whole cruising community to be so generous during our time in the Bahamas.  This was icing on the cake!!


We stopped over at the local for a drink in the evening and made an interesting discovery.   According to the bartender, who said she worked at the bar in Norman's Cay, the reason there is no beer at the bar is because it is consumed by the guys who work there.  No way to make a profit, eh??

Also, if you are at the bar there remember to ask for a "Southern Belle".  They were naming a new drink and we suggested Southern Belle and it was accepted.  It's a refreshing rum punch made with peaches and other great flavors.

Highborne turned out to be a wonderful stop and I would most definitely call on this port again.  Tomorrow we make a passage to Nassau. We need to check weather, see if we can pick up a dancing partner and plan our passage from Nassau back to the USA.   We want to do a little sightseeing in Nassau, as well, since we didn't see much when we were there before.


Christie